Andres Serrato Garnica v. Ryan Thornell, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedJuly 17, 2024
Docket2:24-cv-00004
StatusUnknown

This text of Andres Serrato Garnica v. Ryan Thornell, et al. (Andres Serrato Garnica v. Ryan Thornell, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Andres Serrato Garnica v. Ryan Thornell, et al., (D. Ariz. 2024).

Opinion

6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8

9 Andres Serrato Garnica, No. CV- 24-00004-PHX-DLR (JZB) 10 Petitioner, REPORT AND 11 RECOMMENDATION v. 12 Ryan Thornell, et al., 13 Respondents. 14 TO THE HONORABLE DOUGLAS L. RAYES, SENIOR UNITED STATES 15 DISTRICT JUDGE: 16 Petitioner Andres Serrato Garnica has filed a pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas 17 Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Doc. 1.) 18 I. Summary of Conclusion. 19 Petitioner submits one ground alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. 20 Petitioner claims his trial attorney failed to introduce favorable evidence to the jury. But 21 Petitioner’s claims are not supported by the record, and he does not demonstrate the rulings 22 of the Arizona courts were unreasonable. Petitioner also has not established that he was 23 prejudiced by any deficient conduct by counsel. The Court will recommend that the 24 Petition be denied and dismissed with prejudice. 25 II. Background. 26 A. Facts. 27 The Arizona Court of Appeals found the following facts and procedural history as 28 1 true:1 2 Garnica and his wife, M.P., and their two young children were preparing to move from Phoenix to California, where Garnica’s father and step-mother 3 lived. Garnica enlisted his neighbor, J.L., to help load a truck that Garnica 4 had rented for the move. Shortly after the men began packing, M.P. was walking with the couple’s children toward the kitchen, when she heard two 5 gunshots. M.P. took the children to the bedroom. When she returned to the 6 kitchen, she found Garnica holding a gun and standing over J.L., who was on the floor bleeding from gunshot wounds to his head and torso. When the 7 victim managed to come to his feet, Garnica grabbed him and “hog-tied” him 8 with a rope. J.L. soon died. After Garnica threatened to kill her too, M.P. helped him quickly clean up after the shooting. The two placed the body in a 9 children’s playpen and positioned the playpen in the back of the rental truck. 10 Early the next morning, the family proceeded to California, with Garnica 11 driving the truck and M.P. following in a car with their children. They arrived 12 at Garnica’s father’s house later that day. At about 9:00 P.M., local law enforcement responded to a call at the home. Unaware of the murder, police 13 arrested Garnica, seized his Glock 45-caliber handgun and charged him with 14 domestic violence and weapons violations.

15 The following morning, M.P. informed Garnica’s father of the body in the truck and he called police. Law enforcement discovered the body and 16 transported Garnica to the local sheriff’s department to be interviewed. 17 During the interview, Garnica confessed to shooting and killing J.L.

18 Meanwhile, J.L.’s wife, G.L., had become concerned when her husband did 19 not return home from helping Garnica load the tuck. She noticed the truck that she had seen at the Garnica apartment was gone and the apartment was 20 dark. Worried, she called police, who informed her she had to wait a week to 21 report her husband missing.

22 After Garnica was charged and extradited to Arizona, a jury found him guilty 23 of second-degree murder. The jury also found six aggravating factors. The superior court weighed the aggravating and mitigating factors and imposed 24 the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. 25 (Doc. 9-4 at 94-95.) 26 27 1 The Arizona Court of Appeals’ recitation of the facts is presumed correct. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2), (e)(1); Runningeagle v. Ryan, 686 F.3d 758, 763 n.1 (9th Cir. 2012) (rejecting 28 argument that statement of facts in state appellate court’s opinion should not be afforded the presumption of correctness). 1 B. Direct Appeal. 2 Petitioner was convicted on July 10, 2017. (Doc. 1 at 1.) On July 27, 2017, he filed 3 a timely notice of appeal. (Doc. 9-1 at 1012.) On January 10, 2019, the Arizona Court of 4 Appeals affirmed Petitioner’s conviction and sentence. (Doc. 9-4 at 93, 101.) Petitioner did 5 not file a petition for review. (Id. at 103.) 6 C. Post-Conviction Relief Proceedings. 7 On May 20, 2019, Petitioner filed a PCR notice, which was dismissed by the trial 8 court for being untimely. (Id. at 112.) However, the trial court later granted Petitioner leave 9 to file a delayed PCR notice. (Id. at 120.) On January 18, 2022, Petitioner’s appointed 10 counsel filed a “Notice of Completion of Review,” which said he could “find no 11 meritorious claims for PCR.” (Id. at 123.) Petitioner was granted until July 18, 2022, to file 12 a pro se PCR petition. (Id. at 132.) The court later extended the deadline to February 6, 13 2023. (Id. at 136.) 14 On February 10, 2023, Petitioner filed his pro se petition claiming ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel, and that the court should review the entire case 15 “for fundamental errors.” (Id. at 143-45.) The State filed a response, and Petitioner filed a 16 reply. (Id. at 148, 367.) The trial court dismissed the PCR petition after finding there were 17 no colorable claims. (Id. at 374.) The Arizona Court of Appeals granted review but denied 18 relief on November 28, 2023. (Id. at 423.) Petitioner did not file a petition for review with 19 the Arizona Supreme Court. (Id. at 425.) 20 III. Petitioner’s Habeas Petition. 21 On January 2, 2024, Garnica filed the present Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus 22 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Doc. 1.) The Petition asserts that “the trial attorney was 23 grossly ineffective in violation of the fifth and sixth amendment.” (Doc. 1 at 6.) The Court 24 will look to the Petition for Post-Conviction Relief to find the specific instances of alleged 25 ineffective assistance of trial counsel because the habeas petition does not include further 26 details of how Petitioner’s counsel was ineffective. In his Petition for Post-Conviction 27 Relief, Petitioner claims his counsel was ineffective in three ways: (1) his attorney should 28 have introduced evidence to the jury that the crime scene was contaminated before 1 evidence was gathered, (2) his attorney should have presented to the jury that the 2 Defendant’s fingerprints were not found on the murder weapon, and (3) his attorney should 3 have used a photo of blood on his wife’s boots to discredit her testimony. (Doc. 1-1 at 80- 4 84.) 5 A. Time Calculation. 6 The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, or “AEDPA,” imposes 7 a one-year limitation period, which begins to run “from the latest . . . date on which the 8 judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for 9 seeking such review.” 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A). On November 28, 2023, the Arizona 10 Court of Appeals granted review and denied relief in Petitioner’s PCR proceedings. (Id. at 11 423.) On January 4, 2024, the mandate issued. (Id. at 425.) The Petition for Writ of Habeas 12 Corpus was filed on January 2, 2024. (Doc 1.) Because the Petition was filed within one 13 year of the Arizona Court of Appeals’ decision to deny relief, the Petition was timely filed. 14 B. Ground One. Petitioner alleges “the trial attorney was grossly ineffective in violation of the 5th 15 and 6th Amendment.” (Doc. 1 at 6.) 16 Petitions for Habeas Corpus are governed by AEDPA. 28 U.S.C. § 2244.

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Andres Serrato Garnica v. Ryan Thornell, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/andres-serrato-garnica-v-ryan-thornell-et-al-azd-2024.